Automatic drip shield for coil baker



arch 27, 1956 H. H. HAYNES ET AL AUTOMATIC DRIP SHIELD FOR COIL BAKER Filed Nov. 24, 1954 //v|//v mks: HERMAN H. HA Y/VES and JAMES 1/. SHA rrnva,

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hired AUTOMATIC DRIP HHELD FQR CGIL BAKER Application November 24, 1954, Serial No. 476,887

9 Claims. (ill. 34-87) This invention relates to a shield for protecting coated coils of wire rod against condensate and liquid dripping from a supporting yoke while they are being dried in a rod baker of the flash type. in a more specific aspect, this invention is directed to operating instrumentalities for moving a shield of the character referred to to and from an operative protecting position and for rendering its movement responsive to movement of the coils by their supporting yoke to and from a predetermined baking position in the baker.

Rod being prepared for drawing into wire is processed in the cleaning house through certain well established successive processing operations. According to conventional practice, the rod is first pickled in an acid bath to remove iron oxide scale and dissolve rust after which it is rinsed in clean water. A coating of a type suited to the intended manner of drawing is then applied, this invention being directed to problems incident to its being provided with a lime coating applied by dipping in a bath of milk of lime and then baking to dry the lime and remove acid brittleness. During baking, liquid dripping on the surface of the rods produces rust streaks which cause surface discoloration of the finished wire. The problem of wire discoloration is particularly troublesome in the case of rod dried in bakers of the flash type which have a narrow and open-top baking compartment to and from which the coils of rod are moved by a yoke comprised of a handling beam supporting a pin on which the coils of rod are hung, the yoke being moved vertically to efiect movement of the coils into and out of the baking compartment through the top opening therein. In rod bakers or this type, condensate is formed by contact of the heated drying atmosphere being circulated through the baking compartment with the overlying cold air or atmosphere, and collects on the yoke supporting beam. Since the yoke supporting beam is directly over the coiled rod in the baking compartment, this condensate together with acid and water collected thereon during rod cleaning operations will fall on the rod when it drips fOne of the principal objects of this invention is to fu rnisha rod baker with provisions for protecting coiled rod bein dried in its bakin com artment against contact with liquid dripping from a yoke beam by which the rod is supported in such compartment.

A further object of'the invention is to provide in a rod baker a shield for preventing liquid dripping from a rod supporting yoke onto the surface of coiled rods supported by the yoke in the baker.

A further object is to provide a shield of the character just referred to with a mounting by which it may be moved to and-from an operative position between the coiled rod and the yoke supporting beam.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a movable shield or cover for protecting rod in a baker against dripping liquid with provisions for effecting its 2,739,393 Patented Mar. 27, 1956 movement to an operative protecting position in response to movement of the rod to a baking position in the baker and for efiecting its movement to an inoperative position in response to withdrawal of the rod from the baker.

Another object of the invention is to provide a rod baker with an arcuately shaped protective shield or cover which is substantially concentric to the coiled rod when in its operative protecting position and is mounted for pivotal movement to and from such position'about an axis parallel to its upper and lower edges and extending between the ends thereof.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description. In the drawings, there is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention. In this showing:

Figure 1 is a plan view showing a yoke supporting coiled rod in a baker of the flash type which is provided with a protective shield constructed in accordance with the principles of this invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 11-11 of Figure l; and

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line Ill-Ill of Figure l.

in the drawings, the numeral 1 designates as a whole a rod baker of the flash type which is of a conventional construction and has therefore been illustrated briefly and-somewhat diagrammatically. It has an open top baking compartment 2 in which coils of wire 3 are supported while being dried, conventional provisions (not shown) being provided for circulating a heated drying atmosphere through the compartment 2. The coils are supported in the compartment 2 by a yoke '4 which is moved vertically to transport the coils 3 to and from a baking or drying position. The yoke 4 shown in the drawings is a type commonly designated a hairpin hook and includes a horizontal pin 5' on which the coils 3 are loosely hung and a supporting beam 6 from which it is suspended, the beam 6 lying directly over the pin 5. The beam 6 has eyes 7 adjacent its ends for engagement with crane hooks (not shown) by which its movement vertically to and from a position with the coils 3 in the baking compartment 2 is effected. When the coils 3 are in a proper baking position as shown in the drawings,

the ends of the beam 6 are supported on cradles '8 mounted centrally of the upper edges of the end Walls 9 of the compartment 2. While there is shown a yoke t of the hairpin hook type, it will be understood that other types of supporting yokes in which a coil supporting pin 5 having a different manner of attachment and support from a yoke beam 6 may be used. The parts of the apparatus thus far described are conventional.

As indicated, the coils of rod 3 are dried by a heated atmosphere circulating through the compartment 2. The compartment 2 being open at its top, the drying atmosphere circulatin therein will upon contact with the cooler air overlying the compartment 2 precipitate a condensate which will collect on the beam 6. This condensate and the acid and water remaining from the'cleaning operations upon dripping from the beam 6 are in conventional forms of flash type bakers free to fall on the coils 3 directly underneath the beam 6 thereby causing rust streaks to form on the rod and discoloration of the finished wire.

In accordance with the principles of this invention, a protective shield or cover 10 of substantially semi-cylindrical shape is provided for protecting the coiled rod 3 against water dripping from the beam ti. As best shown in Figure 3, the cover 10 has an arcuate shape between its upper and lower parallel edges 11 and 12 and is mounted by a shaft 13 for pivotal movement from an inoperative position at one side of the compartment, this position being illustrated by the dotted lines in Figure 3, to the operative protecting or coveringposition shown in solid lines. The shaft 13 is located at one side of the compartment 2 out of the path of vertical movement of the rod into and out of'the compartment and iswelded to the outer surface of the shield 10 along a line intermediate and parallel the edges 11 and 12 and has its ends rotatable in bearing supports 14 mounted on the compartment endwalls 9. The arcuate dimension of the shield 10 between its shaft 13 and the lower edge 12 is such that itslower edge 12 lies in the path of vertical movement of the'rod into the compartment 2 when it is in its inoperative position.

As the beam 6 moves to its final position with its ends supported on the cradles 8, the coiled rod moving downwardly therewith strikes the lower portion of the shield 12 and tilts the. shield 10 so that it moves to its operative protecting position shown in the drawings. The mounting of the shield 10 on the rod 13 is such that it becomes unbalanced when it rotates a slight distance in a counterclockwise direction out of its inoperative position so that its movement to its operative protecting position is continued after its lower edge 12 moves out of engagement with the coils of rod 3. When the beam 6 is elevated to remove the coils of rod 3 from the compartment 2, it tilts the shield 14) in a clockwise direction about the axis of the shaft 13 to return the shield 10 to its inoperative position at one side of the compartment 2. Movement of the shield 10 is counter-balanced by a counterweight 16 connected to a cable trained over a pulley 17 and having a connection at 18 with the shield 10 which provides agravity bias against movement of the shield out of its inoperative position.

In the inoperative position of the shield 10 shown in dotted lines in Figure 3, it will be noted that both of its edges 11 and 12 are spaced laterally from one side of the beam 6, the shield 10 being positioned entirely in one side of the compartment 2. The arcuate length of the shield 10 between its mounting shaft 13 and its upper edge 11 is such that its upper edge is projected, as the shield moves to its operative protecting position shown in full lines, through the space between the pin and beam 6 to a position. spaced'laterally from the other side of the beam 6, its lateral spacing from the other side of the beam 6 being such that any liquid dripping from the beam 6 will fall on the upper surface of the shield 10. The radius of curvature of the shield 10, while larger than the radius of the coils 3, together with the location of its pivot shaft 13, is such that it is substantially concentric with respect to the coil 3 when in its operative protecting position. To insure draining of all liquid falling from the beamd on the shield to the right as viewed in Figure 3, its upper edge 11 is turned upwardly to provide a flange for preventing any of the dripping liquid from flowing to the left and onto the surface of the coils of rod 3.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the shield 10 when in its operative position provides a protective cover which drains all of the liquid dripping downwardly from the yoke supporting beam 6 to the bottom of the compartment 2. With respect to movement of the shield 10, it will be noted that its mounting by the shaft 13 provides for its movement between its inoperative position at one side of the compartment and its operative position overlying the rod 3 and arranged between the yoke supporting beam 6 and the rod 3. Attention is particularly directed to the fact that its shape and length together with is mounting are such that its movement to and from an operative position is effected in response to vertical movement of the rod 3 to and from a predetermined baking position within the compartment 2. In this manner,

the shield 10 is moved automatically between its operative and inoperative positions by the vertical movement of the rod 3 and effects its protection of the rod 3 without attention on the part of an operator.

While one embodiment of our invention has been shown 4 and described it will be apparent that other adaptations andmodifications may be made without departingfrom the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. In a baker forcoils of wire rod, a baking chamber, a yoke for transporting the rod to and from a position within said chamber comprising a pin on which the coils are hung and a handling beam spaced above and mounting'said pin, a shield for protecting the coils of rodon said pin from liquid dripping from said beam, and-means mounting said shield for movement between anoperative coil protecting position between said beam and pin and an inoperative position at one side of said chamber, said shield and mounting means including means responsive to movement of coils by said yoke into said chamber for operating said shield to its operative position and to movement of the coils by said yoke outof said chamber for operating said shield to its inoperative position.

2. In a baker for coils of wire rod, 21 bakin'g chamber, a yoke for transporting the rod to and from'a position within said chamber comprising a pin on whichthe coils are hung and a handling beam spaced above and mounting said pin, a shield having upper and lower edges, and means mounting said shield for projecting movement from an inoperative positionwith both of'said edges positioned laterally with respect to one side of said beam to an operative position with said upper edge projected through the space between said pin and beam and spaced laterally with respect to the other side of said pin "and beam and in which it forms a protective cover against liquid dripping from said beam onto the coils of rod on said pin. v

3. An apparatus asclaimed in claim 2 characterised by said shield having a flange projecting upwardly from its upper edge.

4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 2 characterized by said shield having an arcuate shape between said upper and lower edges. I

5. The invention defined in claim 4 characterized by said mounting means providing for pivotal movement 'of said shield about an axis between and parallel to 'said upper and lower edges.

6. In apparatus for baking coils of wire rod, a baker including a baking compartment having anupwardly facing opening through which coils of rod may be moved to and from said compartment, a yoke for transporting the rod over a vertical path to and from a bakin'g'position in said compartment, said yoke comprising a pin on which said coils are hung and a handling beam spaced above and mounting said pin, a shield mounted for movement in said compartment from an inoperative position out of said path of vertical movement of the rod and at one side of said compartment to an operative position be- I 7. A rod baking apparatus as defined in claim6 characterized by said shield having a'substantially semi-cylindrical shape extending arcuately between upper and lower parallel edges and means mounting it forpivotal movement about an axis intermediate and parallel to said edges, and by said responsive means comprising 'that'portion of the shield lyingbetween said axis and said lower edge.

8. In apparatus for baking coils of wire rod, a baker including a baking compartment having an upwardly "facing opening through which coils of rod may be moved to and from said compartment, a yoke for transporting the rod over a vertical path to and from a baking position in said compartment, said yoke comprising a pin on which said coils are hung and a handling beam spaced above and mounting said pin, a shield having a substantially semi-cylindrical shape extending arcuatelybctween parallel upper and lower edges, and means mounting said shield in said compartment for pivotal movement between inoperative and operative positions about an axis lying at one side of the compartment out of the path of vertical movement of the rod into and out of the compartment and intermediate and parallel to said upper and lower edges, said shield having upper and lower portions respectively positioned between said upper and lower edges and said axis and having arcuate dimensions such that said lower portion when said shield is in its inoperative position lies in the path of movement of the rod into said chamber and is engaged by the rod moving into the chamber to tilt said shield and project its upper portion through the space between said beam and pin to its operative position in which it forms a protective cover for the rod on said pin.

9. A rod baking apparatus as defined in claim 8 characterized by said shield having a counterbalancing means providing a gravitational bias against its movement to its said operative position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,156,303 Morrison et a1. May 2, 1939 2,235,559 Mayer Mar 18, 1941 2,443,924 Myers June 22, 1948 

